The Examination of Dojos!
by Apumintan
Summary: Three years have passed since Ranma moved in with the Tendos. One day two men from the Dojo Association come and announce that Ranma and Akane must pass special tests to keep their Dojo running. Turns out Mr.Tendo has already given the dojo to them! Can Ranma and Akane protect the dojo and maybe improve their relationship that has been on a standstill since the ruined wedding?
1. Chapter 1: The new task!

**Hey! SO this is my first published fanfic. I know it is kind of difficult to read _(because it's long and I use a lot of tenses and passive voice and I'm pretty descpritive)._** **I'm trying to make it bette****r. Hope you'll like it! ****  
**

* * *

**1. chapter : The new task! **

It was a normal Saturday morning. Well as normal as it was possible to be in the Tendo Dojo. Genma and Soun were playing Goh in the balcony. Nodoka had gone on a trip to visit her friends in Osaka (after her house was destroyed, she never left Tendo's place as she understood that Ranma doesn't want to leave). Nabiki had gone on a group date with her friends from university. Kasumi, who had just recently gotten engaged to (no one understood how they got so far) was preparing lunch in the kitchen with Akane watching her ("There is a saying: watch and learn!" said Akane. Thanks to Ranma's mom she already knew how to boil water, but she still needed lots of help in order to cook.) Ranma was practising some moves in the dojo while hoping that Kasumi doesn't let Akane near the food.

Three years had passed since the day Ranma and his Dad moved in with the Tendos. Everybody had gotten so used to the life they were living that the thought of Kasumi leaving made others feel rather worried. The thought of having to put up with Akane's lousy cooking seemed to be the biggest problem for Ranma. That is until the doorbell rang. Kasumi went to open the door. A moment later Ranma heard Akane screaming. He ran to the kitchen only to find her in the middle of a mess. She had burnt the pork and spilled over the rice. "Who let a clutz like you in the kitchen?" said Ranma while saving the remaining pieces of pork (there weren't much left). Akane started to clean the rice she had spilled: "Well someone has to feed the family after Kasumi marries !"  
"Can't you leave that part to Nabiki? Her idea of ordering the food from outside will save more money than you always burning the food!"  
"You can eat her ordered meal then! Oh, I have a better idea: call your lovely Shampoo or Ukyo or this crazy Kodachi, you jerk!" She just wanted to get better with her cooking skills – Kasumi had said that she did improve, but the pace was too slow for Akane. She had a dream of becoming a great cook like her late mother was. Well she couldn't exactly remember her mother, but she had a memory of her mother wearing a white apron with little pink flowers on it and letting Akane taste the food she was cooking. Hearing Ranma say she should give up made her even angrier. Just when Ranma wanted to reply with something that probably would have hurt her even more, their little row was disrupted by Kasumi: "Ranma-kun, Akane. There's someone here to see you. Oh my! What have you done to the kitchen?!"

Ranma and Akane went to the living room where two men were waiting. One of them was a big man with short dark hair and small eyes that almost seemed as if they were closed. The other was small bald guy who looked like an ordinary salary-man.  
"Ah! You must be Saotome-san and Tendo-san! Wow you are so young!" the smaller man said "Ah! I apologize! I haven't introduced myself! I am Sato Kouta, the representative of the Union of the Dojos of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts! And this is Kinoo Maruhi, the vice-president of the Dojo Association."  
"I'm pleased to meet you."  
Akane and Ranma looked at each other before replying to the self-introductory.  
"How may we be of help for you?" asked Akane when they had sat down.  
"Ah! Good that you asked that!" Sato-san started to talk really fast while Kinoo-san stayed silent "Well with the recent years we have noticed the continuing fall in the numbers of students in the Anything-Goes Martial Arts Dojos. Through different researches we have put together a list of things that affect those numbers. That is why we have made some regulations in the professional martial arts field. In order to maintain your dojo's name and pride, you must fulfil current requirements. Here's a list for you!" Sato-san handed Ranma and Akane a batch of papers. Ranma and Akane looked at the front paper and were confused.  
"I'm sorry but we probably aren't the people you're looking for." Said Akane "You see: in the paper it says that the list is for "the current owner of the dojo". The owner of this dojo is my father." Ranma nodded to agree with Akane. Actually it was the first time he heard of these kind of organisations. For Ranma martial arts were something that had always been with him. It was his life-style, his way to live. Seeing that there were people who wanted to change martial arts by writing on a paper was rather unpleasant. Especially because Sato-san didn't seem to be a martial artist.  
"No. On the official papers of Tendo Dojo it says that the current owners are Akane Tendo (age 19) and Ranma Saotome (age 19) who are related by engagement. Once married, the name of the dojo will be changed into the Tendo-Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts."  
"WHAT?!" Either Ranma or Akane could believe it. Of course they knew that one day if by some miracle they should get married they would inherit the dojo. But that was not the day. Sato-san looked through his portfolio until he found the papers of Tendo Dojo. "Ah I found it! See the Tendo dojo has been written onto your names a month ago. It even has your signatures!" Ranma grabbed the papers just to recognize his and Akane's fathers' handwritings. "Damn you! Pop!" Ranma yelled. "Father!" Akane stood up to go look for her father that she knew had been playing on the balcony before the guests arrived.  
"Oh my! I believe father and Saotome-san have gone on a trip to China to reminisce about their days of joyful training. Here they left a message to you." Kasumi came to serve tea. "Dear Sato-san, Kinoo-san. I hope you'll do everything to make things as easy as possible for those two. They have a long way ahead of them."

At the same time Ranma and Akane read the message their fathers had left them: "Dear Ranma and Akane! The Dojo is yours! Be sure to take care of it! BTW: Give us a sign once you've fulfilled the list of requirements!"  
"They were frightened by the list of requirements, weren't they?" Akane asked.  
"I bet they are somewhere close so that once we've fulfilled the list, they'll crawl back in." Both of them looked utterly disappointed in their fathers. (At the same time Soun and Genma were enjoying hot paths in the local sauna).  
"Ok. What do you want us to do then?" Ranma turned to the men who were enchanted by Kasumi's naïve kindness.  
"Oh. It's easy! Just read the list!" Sato-san happily said.  
Ranma and Akane started to read again the batch that had been given to them before. "1. Good educational level (Maths test point…. Etc.)" Ranma felt his eye twitching. "What the heck is this thing? Why do I have to have good results in mathematics etc? Isn't martial arts about martial arts?"  
"Because of people like you dojo's are been shutting down!" a low husky voice said angrily – it was Kinoo-san. It was the first time they heard him speak. The only time.  
"I pardon him. His family's dojo was shut down because there wasn't enough money to keep it running. The owner of the dojo must be good in mathematics because that way he can handle the money more usefully. Also great educational background gives more security to the parents of the students. When they see that the owner of the dojo was able to be good in both school and in martial arts, then they trust their children to be good at both also. So far many parents forbid their children from practising martial arts as they are afraid that they won't be so good at school work anymore." Explained Sato-san.  
"I see. According to my school exams my results are good enough to pass this clause." Akane smiled.  
"Well both of the owners must fill the requirements.  
"Ranma looked at Akane with a hesitation. He was sure she'd be angry with him as both of them knew that Ranma was too lazy to study properly. That is why his grades had always been rather lower than average. For his surprise Akane wasn't angry at all. Her face was serious and full of confidence: "We'll do it!"  
"Ok. The first educational test will take place on next Sunday!" The guests were fast to leave saying there are other dojos to visit.

"Ranma!" said Akane once the men had left "I'll teach you maths! And any other subject you suck at!"  
"EH?! Why should I…?"  
"'cause I am NOT giving up on my dreams just because some jerk thinks it would be easier to live that way!" Akane looked at Ranma with a fierce glance. "After the lunch we start with the study session!" She ran upstairs to her room.

Ranma went to the dojo that had been his favourite practising and thinking place since he moved in. He had too many mixed feelings about what had just happened. Apparently he who had no birth-right to inherit a dojo was now a co-owner of this one. Also that meant that the future prospects of marrying Akane were more certain than before. Didn't Akane think about it? Was she really OK with it? She could've had just made him give up his ownership and be the only owner of the dojo as she was from the blood line and they weren't married yet. That way she wouldn't have to go through the hassle of teaching him maths. Also now that she has half of the dojo, she could break the engagement anytime. Wasn't the ownership of the dojo the reason Akane had been dragged into the engagement (not to mention Soun's dreams)? Yet Ranma didn't want it to happen. Just the thought of Akane breaking their engagement that was never approved by themselves was too painful to bear. He knew he had to work hard in order to save the dojo and his place in this household.


	2. The 3-years-length road to nowhere

** : The 3-year-length road to nowhere**

Once they had eaten the lunch Akane dragged Ranma up to her room. She thought there would be fewer distractions for him to properly study. Fortunately they hadn't heard lately anything from Ryouga or any from Ranma's multiple wanna-be-fiancées. Even Kuno and Kodachi had held a low profile for some time. Yet the more were they worried that now when they have things going on with the dojo, all of them would come out to make it even a bigger mess. Luckily so far it was still silent.

Even though Ranma had been in Akane's room tons of times it felt awkward to be there as they had never studied together. He had always copied her notes when she was taking a bath (so that she wouldn't bust him). For their surprise the study session was more successful than both of them had hoped for. Akane yelled at Ranma only when his attention started to fade and Ranma held his tongue behind his lips (for Akane's surprise) (because he was too afraid that Akane might start to think about leaving him out of running the dojo).

"Oh my! You're really studying!" Kasumi came into Akane's room (the door had always been open) "I'm going to take bento to ! (she still didn't call him by his first name) It will probably take some time so please do not tear down the house!" After placing a plate with sliced fruits on the table Kasumi left and closed the door behind her. The sound of door closing made both Akane and Ranma a bit tenser. Even though they had been alone at home some times before, it was rather rare moment (as there usually were tons of people running through the house). Akane remembered the first time they were left alone at home. Ranma had been cursed before so that every time someone sneezed he would hug the one sneezing. She had kept different weapons close to herself in case he should try to do anything. The thought made Akane laugh in her mind. Yet a second later another moment came into her mind. The only time when he actually made a move on her while they were hiding from his mother. Well she didn't actually remember it so well as everything had happened so quick. But she did remember that he had grabbed her close and asked something similar to "Then I guess this is OK?" Just remembering it made her body go tenser.

"So… how was this problem solved?" Ranma tried to ease the atmosphere with asking help for a problem he knew how to solve. Akane looked at Ranma's notes and sighed "I already taught you that one!" She wanted to take Ranma's notebook, but in the way she accidentally (influenced by her former thoughts) pushed her pencil-case down from the table. The contents of it fell all over the floor.  
"I should have seen that coming!" laughed Ranma while he helped her pick up her things.  
"What does that mean?!" Akane got pissed off.  
Ranma just continued to laugh. He looked at Akane who was sitting on the ground and picking up her things. She leaned a bit to pick up her red marker, unwittingly giving Ranma, who just happened to look at her, a peek into her cleavage. Ranma's face turned red as he quickly looked into another direction. He had seen Akane without clothes before so the sight shouldn't have made him blush, yet he couldn't help it. Sure Akane wasn't as cute as Shampoo, as considering as Ukyo, nor as womanly as Kodachi, but she was the only one making his heart race like a crazy (even though he wouldn't admit it even to himself). Maybe now that they had a mission to accomplish together, maybe their relationship would improve? Ranma laughed in his mind at this silly thought.

Akane sat back at the chair and sighed: "This problem is solved the same way as this one." She tried to hold herself back at yelling at him. She knew that when she would yell, Ranma would say something rude back at her, she would get even angrier, she would hit him and nothing would come out of the study session. She could not let that happen.  
"Oh like this?" Ranma quickly solved the problem.  
"Wow! Did you really understand how to do it so quickly?" Akane was amazed.  
"Well I am good at everything once I set my goal on it unlike…" Ranma quickly stopped his sentence. He was about to say "unlike some of us" implying at Akane's cooking. Akane understood the hint: "Unlike me?" Her eyebrow twitched hinting that her tension rose. Ranma made a quick save: "I meant unlike Ryouga who has no idea of geography!"  
"Ranma! Stop teasing him!"  
"I'm just stating the obvious."  
"You're just making yourself look better, egoist."  
"I am better."  
"I wouldn't be so sure."  
"So you like him more than me?"  
"I… What?" The question surprised Akane. She had never thought of Ryouga in any other way than a friend. Of course she had heard rumours about Ryouga liking her, but he was always gone and when he came then only to have a fight with Ranma. She pitied him for the way Ranma treated him. But she had never thought of him any other way.

"So this problem is solved this way?" Ranma quickly changed the subject back at studying. He didn't like that Akane was always on Ryouga's side.  
"Yes, this way." Akane couldn't understand whether the question had come out of jealousy or just for teasing. He even didn't look at her instead he tried to act as if he whole heartedly tries to solve the problems. Akane kept quiet and started to re-solve the problems.  
"I won't .." Ranma started to say but Nabiki's loud voice interrupted him: "I'm home!" "Welcome home!" Akane replied to her "You won't do what?"  
Ranma whose moment was ruined stayed quiet. Even though Akane asked many times more, Ranma didn't finish his sentence. Actually he had wanted to say that he won't let her down, but he couldn't pluck up his courage after Nabiki had returned. He was sure Akane would laugh at him.

The hours went by. Even after dinner they continued studying (even though Ranma was against it at first). It was already 2 AM when Akane opened her eyes after she unintentionally had fallen asleep. She found a blanket covering her shoulders. Ranma was sleeping on the chair next to her. Akane smiled when she looked at his calm expression. It was rare to see him calm. A painful feeling ran through Akane's heart. They had been this way for three years. So close, yet so far away. She knew what she felt about him, even though she still didn't like to admit it. She also knew that Ranma must have felt something for her. She had been sure that he said he loved her in Jusenkyo, but since he continuously denied ever saying it she started to grow hesitant if she really had imagined it. And so their "relationship" was in a standstill. They had held hands (once when they were in the mountains), they had hugged, they even had almost kissed (once when Ranma was under the cat-technique and once with a tape). She continuously found herself from Ranma's arms when again he came to save her. They even went on a date! (When Ranma had set a trap for Nabiki, but Akane went instead). But everything ended with a disaster. They were always interrupted by their fathers, by all the girls wanting Ranma for themselves, by strangers with odd powers, even by Ranma's curse! Even though Akane knew their fathers had written the dojo onto their names just because they didn't want to go through the trouble of passing the tests, there was a slight hope in her heart that it could give them a new beginning. Well when Happosai thought he would die and fathers wanted them to marry in a hurry, they had talked about this possibility. Ranma had said that he didn't have anything against "looking after the dojo and stuff" even though it meant marrying her. Also they had gone through the "half-way-wedding-ceremony" more than once! Yet even though he was her fiancé, she couldn't say that he was really her boyfriend. Why was everything so complicated? Feeling the anger rising, Akane picked a red marker and wrote "BAKA!" on the sleeping Ranma's forehead.  
"For a self-admiring macho jerk you sleep way too deeply, baka!" Then she stood up, put the blanket around Ranma's shoulder and went to bed. She was too tired to wake him up and ask him to leave (also she knew she would get even madder when she'd have to talk to him), so she let him stay for the night.


	3. P-chan's not on the pig's back this time

** : P-chan's not on the pig's back this time **  
_(meaning: To be in luck)_

When Akane woke up, she found herself alone. She put on her training suit and went for a run. Before Ranma had come into her life she had trained every day for many hours, yet the more time passed by her training time got smaller and smaller. For recent months she had her morning run only at the weekends, all the other "training" came from hitting Ranma and fighting all the people who tried to kill her (always because of Ranma). Yet she knew her skills hadn't gotten better at all, since Ranma would stop her or take over her fight as soon as possible. Especially when she was fighting Shampoo or Kodachi. She didn't want to lose her strength, but at the same time she did want to be more feminine – just like Nodoka. A sentence her friend had told her came into her mind: "Men will marry the woman similar to their mothers, even when they deny it. The same way women will marry the man similar to their father." Akane smirked at her silly thoughts.

"Yo! Akane!" Ranma jumped in front of her "I found our fathers. They are staying at 's place."  
"Did you talk to them?"  
"Well at first I wanted to beat my pop up, but then I started to think that maybe it's better if they're not around… I mean they would only distract us and plot some stupid plans to get us married."  
"Wow. You actually thought before jumping into action? Are you feeling OK?" Akane joked.

"If you want them constantly putting their nose into our business, then I can go and drag them back home." Ranma started to move to the direction he came from.  
"NO! Don't drag them home. You're right – they would just be a nuisance for us." They started walking towards home, when they heard a squeaking sound.  
"P-chan! Where have you been?" Akane picked up the little pig not noticing the bag the pig was trying to move. Ranma picked Ryouga's bag up and asked: "So P-chan, aren't you supposed to be at the pigs farm with your girlfriend?" (referring to Akari who lives in the pigs farm).  
"Don't be silly, Ranma! P-chan doesn't have a girlfriend!" said Akane, who still didn't know about Ryouga's curse.

After they had reached home they tried to do some studying again (because Akane said so). Yet with P-chan in Akane's lap, Ranma was unable to concentrate to studying.  
"Ranma! You're wrong again!"  
P-chan seemed pleased with Akane yelling at Ranma, even though he didn't like that Ranma was in Akane's room when there was no one else at home (Kasumi was again at 's place and no one knew where Nabiki was).  
"How can a little piggy like P-chan distract you so much?"  
"How about learning some biology? How old do pet pigs live?"  
"Concentrate on maths for the time being! We still have to revise chemistry and physics for the first test! Biology and geography are on the next week."  
Ranma looked at P-chan who still didn't know why they were studying so hard. Ryouga would never pull off all those tests. Nor Kuno. Ranma felt somewhat superior as if he had already won. But then again he remembered that he had yet to win. He had to do well on the tests in order to fully win.

When the time for lunch came, Ranma and Akane found themselves alone again as Kasumi had come home only to prepare some food and to leave again. They were alone in the living room, eating oyakodon. P-chan had gone missing again. The silence was frustrating.  
"Oh come on! Isn't this their real house? Why the heck does it feel like we are the ones living away?" Ranma felt displeased with the situation.  
Akane started to laugh: "But isn't it funny? They are finally letting us live by our own plans. I bet with Kasumi at 's place, Father won't be that hung up on trying to control our life."  
"So the test will go on for at least a month, right? Then they won't come back so soon?"  
An awkward silence came into the room when they understood that they might be alone at home more often than before.  
Ryouga smashed the door wide open: "Ranma! How dare you think these perverted thoughts?!"  
"Yo, Ryouga. How's Akari and the pigs doing?" Ranma ignored Ryouga's comment as his thoughts never reached Ryouga's dirty mind.  
"Hey, Ryouga? Back in Nerima?" Akane smiled, she was happy Ryouga broke the awkward atmosphere that had gathered into the room.  
"Don't worry, Akane! I'm here to protect you from this animal," Ryouga grabbed Akane's hands into his. A mere second later he felt Ranma's elbow on his head: "Just who's the animal here, pig-boy?"  
"I'm really glad Ryouga, but I'm afraid Ranma can't study with you being here all the time."

Akane told Ryouga the whole story about her and Ranma becoming the owners of the dojo.  
"What happens when you fail?" Ryoga asked.  
"Well… we will lose the dojo," Akane said quietly.  
"We won't lose," Ranma said with irritated voice. Losing was not a word from his vocabulary. He had gone through hell many times and this one was nothing compared to the previous ones.  
Ryouga started laughing, "I bet Ranma's giving you real headache, Akane!"  
"What do you mean by that? He's great at studying IF he wants to be."  
"You should have seen him in junior high! Dumb as a brick!"  
"Look who's talking! Geography must be your favourite subject!"  
"At least I know how to calculate!"  
"But do you know how to use Viete's theorem?"  
"You bet I do!"  
The guys kept nagging even though both of them knew that Ryouga who hadn't attended school since Ranma left their old place did not know half the things. Ranma had learned in just two days studying with Akane.

Ryouga left after Akane begged him to keep away for a while so that Ranma could properly study without being distracted. With teary eyes Ryouga again said his farewells.  
As the time was quite late already Akane and Ranma decided to go to sleep as there was school next day. Even though it was awkward to do so as Nabiki and Kasumi had still yet to come back.  
Akane came from the bathroom when she saw that the light in Ranma's room was still on, even though he had had his bath before her.  
"Ranma?" Akane opened his door.  
Ranma quickly hid something under his pillow: "What?"  
Akane saw the corner of Ranma's maths book and couldn't help but feel happy.  
"I was just thinking what Ryouga meant by that comment?"  
"Oh that? Well you know how Dad used to drag me around? Well because of the frequent trips I wasn't able to attend school so much, so I kind of stayed back. Heh while he was the one who always failed the tests."  
"But then how come you were able to come to the same class as I am?"  
"The teachers let me graduate if I did the exams well."  
"You mean you did exams without attending classes?" Akane was surprised. It was something she didn't know about Ranma. She had thought about how Ranma was able to get to high school with all his travels and fighting, but she hadn't figured it out as Ranma hardly paid attention in the lessons.  
"Yeah, I passed all the exams before going to China. It was the only time Dad said beforehand that we're going on a trip. Had to take English test in the middle of the night before leaving," Ranma started to laugh remembering how he was struggling with his studies, "I found out that I had passed only after coming back to Japan."

Akane's eyes lit up and she quickly sat on her knees close to Ranma: "So you studied on your own and passed all the tests? Why didn't you tell me before?! All that time I've been worrying about your studies." She made a frown appear on her face.  
"You've been worrying about me?" Ranma asked to hear it again, but instead of answering Akane changed the subject: "But doesn't it mean that we have much bigger chance of actually passing all those tests? I mean you've done that kind of studying before so it must be easy for you!"  
"I guess."  
"We've been together for three years, yet I didn't know that about you. I'm surprised." Akane crossed her arms while thinking. Now looking back she should have seen it coming. Ranma was always able to think two steps ahead when it came to a fight. Also he always quickly figured out how to defeat someone and learned new techniques with only some days or even less!  
"I guess when you really want to be then you can be really smart!" Akane said it out loud and looked at Ranma who was blushing. An awkward feeling ran through Akane and her cheeks turned pink. She had praised him and that was not something she would usually do, "Emm… I should go to sleep. Good night."

She quickly went to her room and closed the door behind her. A big sigh came from her lips – why did she run every time things got awkward between them? Only then she realised that the first two buttons of her pyjamas had unbuttoned themselves (probably when she had crossed her arms) giving a view on her cleavage. Was that the reason Ranma blushed? Akane felt even more embarrassed. Of course Ranma had seen her in her bra (and even without it) before, but for the past year they had been able to avoid these kinds of situations. Did it really affect Ranma's behaviour? Well he was a guy after all. But at the same time _he_ was a half-girl, so seeing a girl's chest was not a big deal for him (he said it so himself!). Akane felt like going insane with her thoughts.

* * *

**So finally my little corner to explain**: This is my first published fanfic (as I've already told). I know I don't use the "easiest" English, but that's because I prefer to use: "Wolverine was made to be a weapon." instead "The goverment made Wolverine. Wolverine is a weapon." _(the authors will know)_. Sorry my fanfic is not for elementary school children.  
**All the flashbacks are from the manga and anime.** _(when a flashback comes from my imagination, then I will tell so)_(I hope you've read/watched all of it because IT'S AMAZING!( - fangirl talking). Also it would help you understand the story better).  
I can't give any promise when will I publish the next chapter (hopefully next week), but as a teaser I'll give you hints: School, Ukyo, jealousy.


	4. Crawl now, beg later

** : Crawl now, beg later**

The morning came in a blink of an eye. Kasumi and Nabiki had returned home at some moment during the night (Kasumi had felt responsible for their father and to stay at dr. Tofu's place, so she tried to be of help as much as possible not noticing how much the time was. Nabiki on the other hand had no courses on Monday so she had gone out drinking with her friends). The morning went by almost as usually with the difference being that Ranma did not have to fight for his food and they even didn't need to run to school in order to get there in time. It sure was great that Genma was away.

When they reached the school gates, a lot of people had gathered to the yard. "There they come!" Someone yelled. Akane and Ranma knew there's trouble coming. Before they could do anything they were being surrounded by people throwing questions at them. "Have you set the date?" "So you're really getting married?" etc. "Stop the questioning, people!" Two guys had made their way to Ranma.  
"What the heck is going on?" Ranma asked from his friends.  
"Don't act as if you don't know! You and Akane are finally going steady, isn't it so?" Daisuke and Hiroshi kept teasing: "Hey, can you now give us the Chinese chick?" Akane heard the same thing from Sayuri and Yuka.  
"WHAT?! We're not getting married or anything!" Akane yelled out loud.  
"Where did you hear that crap from?" Ranma gave his best irritated look. The people around them got silent. "I said it's a rumour, didn't I?" said someone from the crowd. "No way are those two getting married."

"But you agreed to be the co-owners of the dojo, right? Doesn't it mean that you're getting married?" asked Sayuri. Akane did not know how to answer. It did mean that, but she didn't want to admit it so easily. She'd be the laughingstock of the school (even though she knew that she already was with her status as "one of Ranma's MANY fiancée's" even though no one told it to her face).  
"We're just protecting the dojo! It has nothing to do with marriage and stuff. There's no way I'm marrying someone as uncute as _she_ is!" Ranma said out loud. The pressure had been too much on him. Akane, feeling hurt, replied: "Oh yeah? Well who would like to marry a pervet like you?"  
Ranma started to laugh: "There's a whole queue of girls who do, tomboy."  
"Jerk."  
"Macho chick."  
The insults kept flying and the crowd dissolved as they understood that nothing had changed between the couple.

The day went on with Ranma and Akane not talking to each other (as usually after a fight) – even though it distracted Ranma from studying as he understood that he had walked on a thin ice (he was still afraid of being cut out of the ownership). During one break Ukyo (who had been late, because Konatsu had burnt the breakfast – Konatsu lived in the little unused storage room of the shop so he could work 24/7 for Ukyo) called Ranma on top of the roof.  
"Yo, Ucchan? What did you wanted to talk about?" asked Ranma when he got there.  
"I… I just… Yesterday I saw Ryouga," said Ukyo.  
"Yeah, I saw him too," said Ranma. Not understanding what Ukyo meant.  
"He said that you have accepted to be the co-owner of Akane's family dojo," Ukyo said hesitatingly.  
"Well you can call that exactly "accepting" – it was more like "thrown on" me. Just because mr. Tendo didn't want do all those tests."  
"Oh so that how it was?" Ukyo's face lit up "You want some okonomiyaki? I'll do it in a minute!"  
"Yeah, sure!" Ranma sat down as Ukyo fixed up a quick okonomiyaki (yes, on the school roof). "So what was the thing you wanted to talk about?"  
"Never mind. I already got my answer."

At the same time Akane tried to figure out how to make things right with Ranma. Usually both of them just waited until they forgot about the fight - it was easy with everybody from home filling their minds with other problems, but even then it took a lot of hours to pass. But with the upcoming test they had no time to be mad at each other. When the bell had ringed she saw Ranma walking out of the classroom – of course he didn't say anything to her. It felt weird to ask about it from Daisuke and Hiroshi also, so she had no choice but to look for Ranma without letting anyone know. Of course the school roof was the first place she went after seeing – it was known as one of his favourite places (unless it was Valentine's Day – then he avoided the place like cats – _I would have said fire, but he avoids cats more than fire)_.

When she reached the roof, she saw Ranma happily eating okonomiyaki that Ukyo made. She felt anger rising – she had hoped to see him being alone here – maybe even think about how to make up with her. But no! He was laughing and stuffing food down his throat. Heh! And she was thinking of making up with this jerk! He can choke on that food right now for all she cares! A moment later an old chair (that usually stood next to the door) hit Ranma. He already knew that 90% of these kinds of "accidents" were caused by Akane. He also knew that he had made things even more difficult.

When Ranma returned to class (with Ukyo), he saw Akane's battle aura still boil. He quietly sat back to his seat next to Akane (they didn't change seats after Gosunkugi made everybody change seats – same way Gosunkugi still sat behind Ranma).  
During the lesson Akane could see (from the corner of her eye) Ranma scribbling something down, then erasing it and so many times in a row. Finally he placed a little piece of paper on her desk. It said:

"We don't have time for fighting.  
So let's forget about it.  
I mean what else should I have said to them?"

It only mad her madder. What should he have said? Well she knew what he shouldn't have said or done. She replied:

"You could have at least apologized to me…"

Soon the paper returned to Akane's table again:

"I'm sorry"

It didn't make her feel any better at all. It felt as if he said it only because she wanted him to:

"You think it matters anymore?"

Ranma quickly replied:

"Obviously it does to you"

The text changing became faster:

"don't force yourself into  
saying things you don't mean"

Ranma:

"who says I didn't mean it?"

Akane:

"doesn't look like it to me"

When Akane had sent it back to Ranma, she didn't expect to receive that kind of response – as soon as Ranma had read the text, he furiously stood up and turned to Akane (forgetting that they were in the middle of the lesson): "Seriously, tomboy! I'm trying to make things work here! Do you want me to crawl on the floor and beg forgiveness? Well that's not going to happen!"

The whole class got silent and looked at them. Ranma, realising that they're at school, turned red in the face: "I… I…" Akane felt embarrassed.  
Miss Hinako shot her Happo-5-en-satsu at Ranma. Taken by surprise Ranma fell to the ground.  
"Well, you are crawling now. You can beg for forgiveness for disrupting my class later," She said when she had transformed into her womanly form. Understanding that Miss Hinako had misunderstood the situation, everybody felt somewhat sorry for her.  
"I… was… not… talking… to… you," Ranma said before collapsing.

When Ranma came to, he found himself from the nurse's office – alone. He had no idea how he got there. He remembered arguing with Akane, then Happo-5-en-Satsu. The door was opened and someone came closer. When the curtains were moved, Ranma saw it was Akane.  
"You woke up?" she asked while sitting on the chair close to the bed. Ranma nodded – he was not sure whether she was still angry at him or not.  
"Here. It's lunch time," Akane placed a bento box, which Kasumi had prepared in the morning, on the bed, which Ranma immediately opened, happy smile on his face: "Itadakimasu!" Seeing Akane had her bento box in her lap, he added: "You're not going to eat?"  
"Ah. I was supposed to meet up with Yuka and Sayuri in the lounge," she replied and was starting to stand up.  
"Eat here."  
Akane stopped: "Here? In the nurse's office?"  
Ranma continued to eat his bento: "Well I'm eating here and there's no one here to scold us for that."  
For her own surprise Akane sat down again and began eating. An awkward silence filled the room.

"So… what are studying today? Physics?" Ranma tried to ease the atmosphere.  
"We didn't manage to cover geometry last night, so maybe we'll practise a bit of that and then maybe tomorrow do some physics?" Akane tried to make a plan in her mind. Planning was not something she usually did, but Kasumi said in the morning that it'd help to manage learning.  
"Ok. But will you give me any time to work out, too?"  
"Only if you spar with me." Akane also felt that she needed a work out session.  
"Then it's a deal." Ranma agreed. Genma was away, Ryouga also left – so there wasn't much people who would fight with him. Even though Akane wasn't much of an opponent to Ranma. But better sparring with Akane than no training at all.

* * *

**I will probably publish chapter 5 during next week, but as I have 3 tests placed on the same day, then it may even be published the week after next one. Σ(▼□▼メ****)  
I'll try to make things in the fic go faster (as I know they have been quite slow so far), but can't promise anything.  
Be sure to comment and give suggestions to make it better! ** ＼（＠￣∇￣＠）／


	5. The lessons of a training session

**Chapter 5: The lessons of a training session**

Ranma went to the dojo hall. Akane, in her yellow gi, was already doing some stretches. For a "macho chick with fists like brick" she sure bent fine. He stopped on the door for a moment before going in: "You ready?"  
Akane jumped up and gave a dazzling smile: "As ready as ever!" She took a position and concentrated.

With a mere second Ranma could see her dazzling smile turn into angry aura. "Now fight me!" Akane made an attacking move. Ranma easily jumped up and avoided the punch. Akane made another attempt but again Ranma avoided it without taking his hands out of pockets. Ranma landed right before her and looked her into the eyes: "Do you have to be so angry? I mean we're just training."  
"You know that's how I train!" She made another punch, still not reaching him, "could you be serious and fight back?!"

Ranma took his hands out of his pockets while blocking another punch: "Gosh! And to think you looked seriously cute for a moment!"  
The comment made Akane lose her attention and before she knew, Ranma (without hurting her) had pulled her hands behind her back and held them in a firm grip with only his right hand making it impossible for Akane to attack with hands while he had his left hand free: "You're thinking too much about attacking with your hands. See? You're completely defenceless without your hands."

Akane decided to make a punch with her leg, but while she had her leg ready to hit Ranma's left side, he caught it in the middle air and pulled it to his hip: "And you're not thinking two steps ahead as you should." For a moment Akane thought of attacking with her left leg which wasn't captured by Ranma, she understood that it'd be impossible as when she'd lift her leg from the ground, she'd rely totally on Ranma, but with hitting him, he'd lose balance and both of them would fall. Right after realising the hopelessness of the fighting situation, she realised another thing about this situation: Ranma's body close to her and his hand under her thigh. The only way to get away from the situation would be if Ranma'd free her hands or her leg or preferably all of them. An awkward silence came between them.

"Ee… Akane? Lately you haven't trained as much as you used, right?" Ranma asked not changing anything about their positions.  
"Have my skills gone that much worse?"  
"No, not that, but… you **feel **rounder."  
Akane got angry: "Is that your polite way of saying I'm fat?!"  
It is obvious that a moment later Ranma found himself beaten to the floor.

"At 7 AM I'm waiting you to the study session!" Akane said before leaving to have a nice relaxing bath.  
Ranma felt like cursing – he had to go to Tofu's again to fix his dislocated shoulder. He hadn't meant that "she's fat" by saying she "feels rounder". He had held her from her thigh before so he knew exactly how much "fat" she had – and she didn't have as much as he kept saying she did. But this time there was certain "roundness" that felt so soft and warm. Somehow he wanted to feel more of that softness. Blushing at his own thought he opened the door to Tofu's place: "Good evening!"

For Ranma's surprise it was Kasumi who came to the door: "Oh Ranma! What brings you here?"  
Ranma showed his shoulder. "Oh my! Come inside! ! Ranma's here for treatment!" Ranma could see from Tofu's attitude that he will need more treatment after Tofu has relocated his shoulder.  
"Hahaha! Brother-in-law! How are you?" asked while dancing with the skeleton. "No one has gotten married yet," Ranma said obviously annoyed, "Could you fix my shoulder quickly? I'm in hurry."  
"Hahaha! Of course, brother-in-law!" Tofu took Ranma's arm and made some cracks. " , one more twist. You turned it the wrong way," Kasumi gently said when Ranma's hand was the other way.  
"Hahaha! Of course, Kasumi. I'll do it immediately!" Ranma's shoulder did some more cracks.

It took half an hour before it was relocated.  
"Ranma, would you like some tea before going?" Kasumi asked, "I hope you saw that the dinner is in the refrigerator. You only have to warm it up."  
"No thanks, Kasumi. I'll tell it to Akane," it felt really good to feel his arm again.  
"Oh, there were people asking how is it going with the tests," Kasumi said extra loudly.  
Ranma knew that his father and mr. Tendo were behind the door.  
"Well you can say that WE are doing just FINE, but AKANE is SERIOUSLY MAD at AND POPS, so they MUSTN'T come home until all this shit is over," Ranma grinned victoriously when he heard and his father cry for being hated by Akane.  
"Well I should go now, Akane is waiting for me."

Akane had calmed down by the time Ranma returned, even though she got a bit upset by the fact that Ranma didn't apologize for saying she's fat. Ranma on the other hand found no way to explain Akane what he had meant by the "roundness" without avoiding getting beaten up again. That's why hardly even speaking they studied until falling asleep in Akane's room.

* * *

**Surprise! I know I said I probably won't upload anything this week, but as I got my mind running again and my flatmates are gone for the weekend I can concentrate on writing** (being the only one interested in Asia is difficult ヽ(≧Д≦)ノ.)**  
I know it's much shorter than the previous chapters, but I hope you forgive it :)  
Don't forget to review so that I could make the story better! **(every suggestion taken into consideration! Also questions are OK!)

(((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))


	6. The nervous nap-time

6. **The nervous nap-time**

The days went on the same way: school in the morning, a little bit training and then studying until falling asleep. It was Friday already and they had only two days left until the first exam.  
It was lunch break and Ranma was on the roof eating with Daisuke and Hiroshi.  
"Dude, you look really awful!" said Daisuke while staring at Ranma.  
"I know! Last night was awful! Akane didn't give me a single break! And when I finally fell asleep I could still hear her voice nagging about things I do wrong!"  
Daisuke and Hiroshi started laughing.  
"What?" Ranma didn't understand.  
"So what have you been _learning_? Have you _done some maths_? Have you _gotten into chemical reaction? _Or _proved the natural laws of physics?_"  
Daisuke and Hiroshi kept laughing while Ranma understanding what they had meant turned red: "You guys! Seriously what the heck are you thinking?!"  
Daisuke and Hiroshi, still having cramps from laughing, tried to be more serious: "But come on, man. You've lived together for 3 years and she IS your fiancée. What's stopping you? Akane's a hot stuff so we know there can't be a problem with that."  
"It's not that simple!" Ranma said.  
Daisuke looked at Hiroshi and said: "See? Now pay me the money you owe me."  
"What?" Ranma didn't understand.  
"Damn, Ranma!" Hiroshi said, looking for money from his pockets, "We made a bet whether this last week and sleepless nights influence you or not."  
"What?! It hasn't influenced me!" Ranma disagreed.  
"Normally you would say something like: "WHAT? Who would want to do _that_ with a macho chick like her?"" said Daisuke, putting the received money away. Now that they had said it Ranma himself also understood that he had said something that was not like him.  
"But now seriously, man. What's stopping you?" asked Hiroshi, fully serious. Serious talk was not like them at all, so Ranma felt utterly uncomfortable: "Shouldn't we get back to class?"  
"Don't change the topic, man!" Hiroshi and Daisuke kept pressuring until they got Ranma to speak up: "She'd kill me if I'd try anything!"  
"You know what? My sister said that girls have needs too. So maybe if you'd cut down on insulting, something could happen," Daisuke said.

Ranma kept thinking about Daisuke's words throughout the day. Of course it made him blush every time he looked at Akane, which happened quite a lot. He tried to avoid rude remarks and even find a way to tell something nice about her. And that was seriously difficult.  
In the evening Akane wanted to do some more studying so they went to her room again. Ranma lied down on Akane's bed, while Akane asked him questions about different topics of maths and other subject. All of his answers were right until he didn't reply anymore. He's thoughts had been on another topic all along: "Akane, this dress suits you." " Akane, you're really smart, aren't ya?" No matter what kind of compliment he thought, he couldn't bring himself to actually tell it. The situation is wrong, I can't do it out of the blue - he kept telling himself.  
"Ranma?" Akane asked for the tenth time before he finally heard it. He kept his eyes closed: Oh, man! Now she's angry with me again! Maybe if I were to act as if I'm sleeping, she wouldn't be so mad?  
"Ranma! It's not time to sleep!" Akane got frustrated – the exam was on the day after tomorrow. Even though Ranma made less and less mistakes, she still felt uneasy about the exam.  
"Ranma, wake up!" she yelled, but Ranma took no notice of her. She tried hitting him, but still it didn't wake him up. Exhausted, she lied down next to him: "Why are you sleeping at a time like this? We should be studying!" Before she knew it she had closed her eyes and fallen asleep, thinking maybe she really had crossed a line with all this studying.  
Ranma opened his eyes. Akane had hit him quite bad. He looked at Akane who was so close to him. He felt his throat getting dry. Was it really that simple to get close to her? He closed his eyes and slowly and hesitatingly moved his right hand. Can he put his arm around her without getting beaten up? Will she wake up if he did? Slowly with heart racing he put his arm around her. Nothing happened. He opened one eye and looked at Akane. She was still asleep. Ranma turned red from face and kept his arm around her. Well he hadn't had much sleep either, so slowly and nervously he fell asleep.

Noticing that her pillow is much harder than usually (even though she liked that it was silky and warm), Akane opened her eyes. Since when did she have a red pillowcase? Only then she understood that it wasn't her pillow, it was Ranma's chest she rested her head on! Red from the embarrassment, she slowly looked at Ranma's face to see if he's still sleeping. Fortunately for her, he was. She tried her best to leave bed without waking him up. She wouldn't survive the embarrassment when he'd know about it. Ranma moved a little bit and frowned, even though still sleeping, when Akane left his side. Akane looked at the time – it was already past 20.00. She flattened her dress and quietly left her room, leaving Ranma to sleep, her heart still fluttering. The moment the door closed, Ranma slowly opened his eyes full of satisfaction – maybe ten more minutes of sleep would be enough for Akane to think that he was actually still asleep.  
Akane went to the kitchen to drink some juice.  
"Done cuddling, lil'sis?" asked Nabiki, making Akane burst out all the juice.  
"You're home?!" Akane yelled.  
"Yeah, for a loooong looooong time already," Nabiki grinned.  
"You mean…"  
"This?" Nabiki pulled some pictures out of her pocket – pictures of Akane and Ranma sleeping in her bed, "I have to admit it: you two look _sooo_ cute together! Wow especially in that picture!"  
"How much do you want?" asked Akane in hurry.  
"For what?"  
"So that you wouldn't show them to Ranma," Akane said.  
"'cause you're my sister then 2500 yen per picture."  
Akane ended up giving Nabiki all her allowance for this month. When did she have the time to take so many pictures – Akane couldn't figure out. She would die of embarrasement if Ranma were to know that she had fallen asleep next to him! Even though it was her bed, so he was the one at fault. But still as she was the one to lie next to him while he was already asleep... Well as long as Ranma didn't find out about what had happened, everything was to be fine. At least that's what she tought.

* * *

**Happy New Year! *:.｡****. o(≧▽≦)o .｡****.:*  
I'm sorry for not updating for so long, but I was busy with uni and then Christmas and New Year...  
Next chapter will come after the of January, because until then I'm having an exam session.  
Hope you like this chapter! I know I do** **(´∀｀****) **


End file.
